Sharon Numerow
Divorce Finance & Tax Consultant
(403) 703-7176

The 5 things you must know before you start your divorce

By Sharon Numerow

Have you thought about divorce? Are you feeling like divorce is something you must do? Don't proceed until you have considered 5 important issues. I know what you are going through. I have been through divorce and have been consulting with divorce clients for many years; I know I can help you. I've come up with the 5 things that you must consider and that will help you in making your divorce decision. The first thing you must consider is that you may have to sell your home. Will you qualify for a mortgage? You must crunch the numbers to determine if the home you may be attached to or that you don't want to uproot your children from can be managed financially.

The second thing you must know before you start your divorce is that if you are the non-working spouse, then you may very likely have to return to the workforce to ensure you have enough income to maintain a somewhat similar lifestyle for you and your children.

Thirdly, you must realize that it may be very likely that you will not see your children every single day. Especially for stay-at home parents, this reality is sometimes unfathomable and often gut wrenching. Often people can't comprehend what this means until it comes time to make these types of plans.

The fourth thing you must know is that you will likely not see your children every Christmas. At the most important time of year, during holidays, especially if your family lives out-of-town, you will be separated from your children for many holidays.

The last thing you should know before you start your divorce is that if you are approaching retirement age, it is very likely that you may have to put off those plans, as retirement may no longer be affordable. If you have worked for 25 or 30 years, it may be overwhelming to realize that you cannot retire when you had always planned to.

You must consider these 5 things before you proceed with divorce; your decision to divorce should be a well-informed one as the choice to divorce and the resulting settlement is most often permanent.

Now I know that some of these things may sound obvious but I assure you that if your marriage is in trouble, you will not feel in control emotionally, you will be overwhelmed and likely stressed out and you will need guidance to determine if divorce is the best decision for you and your family. Take baby steps, one hour at a time; there is light at the end of the tunnel, I assure you.

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